Ever After
by Daydreamr4ever
Summary: Captain Swan, and what their Happily Ever After looks like. Multi-chapter, long fic.
1. The Pirate, The Savior, and The Burger

**A/N: My first venture into OUAT! I'm a diehard Captain-Swan shipper, so if you don't agree with me, you can go now. I've given you fair warning, so now you're morally required to be nice. This is also a rough draft, but I'm very proud of it and you know how I love to post unedited stuff. (It happens all the time). Anyway, I'm bad at this kinda stuff, and this is just the intro. The next few chapters will be far more fun, I promise :)**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"Hey Neal, Wendy." Emma greeted the couple as she passed them, heading into Granny's. They grinned at her as they passed, tossing hello's to her over their shoulders. Emma still had to get used to the new way Wendy looked, having to take a second and remember who the young woman was before remembering.

When the large group had arrived back in Storybrooke, Wendy hardly even noticed her brothers until Belle caught her arm and directed her towards the two men.

"Wendy, right? Hi, I'm Belle, and I think there are some people here who want to see you." Belle waved over the two mean, their eyes widening in shock as they discovered their long lost sister, not looking a day older than they remembered her.

"Who are they?" She asked nervously, clearly not recognizing them.

Belle cleared her throat awkwardly, noticing the boys' hurt faces. "They're your brothers."

"What?" Wendy turned to stare at each of them hard. "John? Michael?" Her tone was quietly hopeful, a sound she probably hadn't made in a while.

"You're alive?" They all asked each other at the same time. In a flurry of arms and tears they were all hugging and crying and asking each other questions, the hows, whens, and whys of the past couple of centuries.

"You're still so young." Michael murmured in awe.

Wendy smoothed down her dirty nightgown, suddenly self-conscious. "Yes, I suppose I am. I don't feel it though. I really am an adult, I'm just trapped in this young body, thanks to Neverland." She looked at her small hands disdainfully.

"I think I can help with that." A light, peaceful voice said from behind her. Wendy jumped and whirled around, coming face-to-face with Mother Superior. "I can give you the form of an adult, if you please. Despite being Pan's accomplice, you showed true bravery in getting all of these people off of Neverland, and you have earned a right too it." The Good Fairy smiled down at her.

"Really?" Wendy asked, her eyes full of awe. "You can do that?"

"Yes. You see, I'm THE Good Fairy, and I can do this, as you've earned it."

"You won't make me an old woman, right?" Wendy checked, eyeing the red-head carefully. Mother Superior laughed quietly.

"No dear one. I can make you the age of your friends if you want. What's that, mid-to-late-twenties?" She asked Emma, who had been quietly listening to the conversation. Emma shrugged.

"Yeah, more or less."

"Are you ready, Wendy?" The small girl nodded, but there was a flicker of nervousness in her eyes.

Mother Superior drew her wand, and a light blue light drifted out of it, curling around Wendy's feet, and slowly rose up, soon encasing the girl in a bright blue light. Neal ran over to her, but Emma held out a hand and quickly explained the situation to him. "Oh my god." He bit his finger. "Really?"

"Yeah." Emma kept her eyes on the light, which was fading. Soon, it disappeared altogether, and where a little, fourteen-year-old girl once stood was now a curly-haired blonde with graceful limbs and bare feet, wearing a white sundress.

She blinked in surprise, and wiggled her fingers and toes, and took a shaky step, and then another, and another, before falling into the arms of her brothers.

Neal and Emma had a talk, and Emma told him she could see he still loved Wendy, even after all of these years. Neal apologized profusely, but Emma shrugged it off, saying it didn't matter. "Well, is there anyone out there you love, too?" He asked her.

Emma glanced over her shoulder at a certain pirate who was on his ship, polishing the wheel. "No... but there is the dream of someone else." She murmured.

So that's how Emma ended up going to Granny's all alone three days later, ordering a hot chocolate with cinnamon. Henry was splitting his time between Regina and Emma as if they were his divorced parents, which the boy found funny in itself- The Savior and The Evil Queen, divorced. That week, he was sleeping at Regina's, so Emma had some time to kill.

Snow had moved in to Charming's house, and left Emma the loft. It wasn't really that lonely as the couple visited her often, overbearing parents that that were. Emma stared blankly at the wall, sipping her drink, and letting the taste of chocolate and cinnamon wash over her tongue, not too hot, but not at all cold. It was nice, the peace and-

"Well hello there, love." And undeniably obnoxious voice sounded from behind her, and Emma jumped in surprise, nearly choking on her hot chocolate. She hadn't heard anyone come in, but then again, she had been lost in a chocolate-induced trance. "Fancy seeing you here." He plopped down next to her, giving the diner a skeptical once-over. "Not exactly the pub I was expecting. Strange land you come from, Miss Swan." The pirate told her, raising his eyebrows.

Emma sighed, giving off a false air of exasperation. "This is a _diner_, not a pub, dummy. Why are you even here?" She really hoped she hadn't let any hope creep into her voice at that last sentence.

"Well, I was hungry, and one of those dwarves told me to come here. Meeting you here was a happy surprise." He gave her a look she couldn't quite place, and all Emma knew was that her heart was beating wildly, and suddenly she was back in the jungle, and they were kissing, and she couldn't even remember her own name.

"Can I take your order?" Emma was jerked back to the present at the sound of Granny's voice. The old woman was looking- no, glaring at Hook over her glasses. The pirate shrank a little under her stony gaze.

"He'll have a hamburger." She saved Hook, and Granny nodded, scribbling it down and heading to the kitchen.

"What the bloody hell is a hamburger?" Hook demanded, turning to her.

She smiled, remembering that he was still from the 19th century, and hadn't had time for burgers on his last visit. "You'll see. They're delicious. Unless you're a vegetarian, which I highly doubt, due to you being... so... you." She wrinkled her nose, gesturing to his attire.

"Well, as long as you appreciate it..." Hook raised his eyebrows at her, and she scoffed, turning back to her drink. "And to confirm your speculation, I'm not a vegetarian, thank you very much."

"Here's your burger. Enjoy." Granny placed the plate in front of him before bustling off to the inn side of the building.

Hook stared curiously at the meal placed before him, poking the fries, and making a face at the burger itself.

"It helps to put ketchup on it." Emma offered, picking up the bottle of ketchup. She grabbed the top bun off of the patty, and squeezed some on to the bun. "Some people are weird and put the ketchup directly on the burger but I think that's ridiculous." She showed him the bun, on which, she drew a smiley face in ketchup. Hook snorted in amusement. She placed the bun back on the burger. "Now eat it."

"With all due respect, I don't even know what I'm about to eat, love."

Emma rolled her eyes at the pirate's protest. "Bread, cow meat, pickles, and ketchup. Now eat."

Hook wrinkled his nose but picked up the hamburger with is hand, and took a hesitant bite, chewing slowly.

"Well?" Emma prompted, nudging him with her elbow.

"It's... strangely tasteful. You have interesting food in your land, Miss Swan." The man commented, sparing a smile for her, and Emma tried to keep the butterflies out of her stomach from the heart-melting smile coming from this rough-and-tumble pirate, and she was yet again reminded of his shocking confession in the Cave of Awkward Truths.

"Well, I'm not in charge of the food-making here, sorry. But it is good, isn't it?" She grinned and stole one of his fries. "Now these are just deep-fried potato sticks basically. But they taste the best with ketchup as well. Oh, and ketchup is like 50% tomato, 25% sugar, and the rest in a mystery." She explained as she squirted more ketchup on his plate to dip her fry in.

However before she had a chance to take a bite, Hook leaned over and bit off about half of it. She glared at him, which earned her a cocky smile as the man in guyliner chewed his french fry. "Good, good. Yes, I like this very much."

They continued talking for a while, and ended up splitting the fries between them, and Emma coaxed Hook into polishing off the burger, which he admitted was delicious.

"So, what does Storybrooke seem like, now that you're not trying to destroy anything?" Emma asked him as they paid and exited the diner.

Hook mused, wondering whether or not to be offended. "It's... quiet. And there's a shortage of rum." He decided on not.

"Well, we can fix that later. What are you gonna do here- assuming you're here for the long-term?" Emma stopped on the sidewalk, turning to him, completely giving up on keeping the need out of her eyes. She didn't think she would want anyone to know what she wanted or really needed, but she found herself wanting Hook to know everything.

"I'm here as long as I'm welcome." He gave her a look, and she got the hidden message. _I'm here as long as the lady will have me_.

"Well, you're got no protest from me, buddy." Emma muttered, searching his face for a sign.

"Good." Was the only thing she heard before she found her face pressed up against his, their lips pressed together, Emma's hands curling in the pirate's hair as he pressed the outer curve of his hook against the small of her back, pulling her impossibly closer. It was like de ja vu , all of the passion and desire still there, uninhibited and honest. And very, _very_ sexy.

They only pulled apart when Emma felt moisture on her cheek. She pulled away, surprised. And then she saw the snow. And she began to laugh, resting her head on the pirate's shoulder. He looked at the blonde, surprised.

"What's so funny?" He still sounded breathless from their kiss as he wrapped a hand around her waist.

"The kiss, the snow..." she gestured at the gently drifting flakes falling from the heavens. "It's just like out of a fairy tale, and the irony is I'm _living_ in a fairy tale. I mean, my mom's Snow White, My dad's Prince Charming, and I just kissed Captain Hook. I guess this is what ever after is like." She turned to Hook again, reaching up for another kiss, lighter this time, the kiss a whisper, baby soft. "It's not that bad."

* * *

**So? How'd you like it?**

**Question: Am I the only person who hasn't seen Titanic? Seriously?**

**BYENOW!**


	2. Peter Pan (The Cartoon)

**A/N: Howdy y'all! How is everyone? Good? Good. You may have noticed that I changed the rating of this story to T. Well K+ just seemed wrong. I mean, Hook swears quite a bit. So that happened. Meanwhile, I've been off to one side fangirling over the fact that I will be watching season 3 of Sherlock in about 6 weeks. EEP! And then I started crying because I remembered that Matt is leaving. Heart= broken into roughly nine hundred pieces.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter of this lovely little story. I even edited it! Oh, and BTW, in this, Henry's still Henry, because I don't want to deal with that drama.**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"Oh, and kid, Hook and I watching the cartoon Peter Pan tonight, wanna join? I feel like Hook's reaction to a television is not one to be missed." Emma asked her son as they walked him back to Regina's house. It had been two months since her dad- and, well, everyone else in Storybrooke- had found out about her and Hook. Now that things had settled down, and she didn't get questioning-slash-horrified-slash-admiring glances from the townspeople anymore, she felt at ease to walk Henry home from school again.

"I can't, I need Mom- well, Regina- to help me out with his project. Or, more like, she wants to help me. We're still in the whole making-up-and-forgiving-each-other stage." Henry explained, and Emma nodded, though a little hurt at his swift decline to her offer. They soon reached the large, white home, and Emma kissed the top of Henry's head and hugged him before heading back to her apartment, telling herself she was not upset with Henry- after all, it was his week with Regina again, and she's have him back at her apartment soon enough.

"Mary-Margret!" She called out to her mother, as she noticed a familiar pink cardigan. Her mom smiled and came over to hug her daughter.

"Hi, Emma! I haven't seen you in days, I thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth!" She laughed and hugged her daughter, Emma only stiffening for a moment in surprise before hugging her mom back.

"I've just been busy. I've been at the police station for what feels like forever, going through all of these missing persons cases for the lost boys. It's like they never existed." Emma shook her head, "And these kids don't even remember their own names. I mean, am I supposed to keep calling them Nibs, Tootles, Curly and Slightly? I mean, there is Felix, but he's..." Emma trailed off, looking for a way to describe the brooding, obviously hormonal teenager. She really wanted to keep that one away from goth T-Shirts and guyliner, even though that was pretty much what Hook wore when he wasn't dressed in his pirate getup. She even got him to wear jeans at one point, but that was a whole other story.

"Well Mother Superior is taking good care of them over in the nunnery while we find them families. I saw them today, actually, that's where I was coming from." Snow explained as they walked.

The blonde paused. "Maybe I should go check up on them, too. I mean, I'm to one who promised them families, after all." She sighed in resignation. "I've just spent so much time on finding these kid's reports. Maybe I can get them to remember if they're even from the twentieth century." She and her mother parted ways at the center of town, and Emma made her way up to the nunnery, a large, seemingly secluded building, though it wasn't far from the center of town.

She reached the great oak doors and pushed them open, entering the silent chapel. Sunlight filtered in through the stained glass windows, leaving gorgeous designs on the stone floor as she passed. She followed the sounds of laughing and crashes to the basement, the mahogany door labeled Sunday School. Better known as the Lost Boy's new playroom.

"Woah!" Emma dodged a paper airplane heading right from her face as she opened the door, making a mental note to knock first. The thrower of the aforementioned plane, little Curly, ducked his head.

"Sorry, Emma." He apologized in that little boy voice, giving her the puppy dog eyes as if he had to win her forgiveness. He was the sweetest darn thing, the youngest lost boy, and Emma figured he could burn down Granny's and she'd still forgive him.

"It's fine, kiddo." She patted his head as he grinned. "How're you guys doing?"

"Great! Bubs and Tiny just got adopted yesterday, and this place is great. Mother Superior is really nice." Curly nodded to himself. Emma smiled at him before turning and surveying the scene. A couple of kids were drawing at the tables, while others were hanging off of beams on the ceiling, which Emma was sure Mother Superior would freak out about if they were caught.

Some of the boys had kept their capes on from Neverland, probably as a coping mechanism, but all of them were in clean shirts and pants. Their faces and arms were scrubbed clean of any dirt or otherwise, and to Emma they were barely recognizable. Felix would be outside with a couple of the older boys, and Emma didn't bother finding the brooding blonde, as she wasn't really desiring a migraine.

She talked with some of the kids, but couldn't get any more information out of them, tried as she did. The young woman lost track of time as she talked with each of the boys, and only after what felt like minutes, checked her watch and realized she would be late for her movie date with Hook.

She said good-bye to the kids, gave Curly a hug (This little kid was quickly becoming her favorite), and hurried off.

She reached the apartment in a matter of minutes, and hurried upstairs, planning on changing out of her turtleneck and khakis into something more... cute.

So when Hook knocked an hour later, she looked, well, hot. For a stay-in night, at least.

Hook actually raised his eyebrows as he took in her appearance. "Looking good, love." He commented, leaning in to kiss her. She gave him a quick peck before pulling away to take in his attire.

"Not bad, pirate. You actually look semi-modern." She clapped his shoulder before stepping aside to let him come in while he made some protest about semi-modernness and that.

"Okay, so you asked me what a movie date was, right?" Emma asked, walking over to the living room area.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't explain." Her boyfriend grumbled, following her and plopping down on the couch.

"Well now I will. You've been over enough to see this, at least." She presented the television like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. He nodded, suddenly more interested.

"Yeah, it displays moving pictures, with sound." He looked at the television warily. "And that just isn't natural, Swan."

She rolled her eyes at his 1800's-ness "Basically we're watching a moving picture with sound that is titled Peter Pan." She grinned wickedly before turning to the stack of VHS tapes (Mary-Margret was really behind on the times) until she found the cartoon red-head picture, with the cute little Darling children flying behind him.

The tape looked hardly used, with that newness smell about it. Hook leaned forward to see what she was doing. She waved the tape in front of his face, startling him, before laughing and popped it in the player.

Moving backwards to sit down next to her one-armed, nineteenth century pirate boyfriend, she hit PLAY on the remote, and watched as the blue Disney castle appeared on the screen, and "When You Wish Upon A Star" began to play.

"Are you really going to make me revisit Neverland in movie form?" Hook asked, and he actually sounded stressed. She glanced at him, and he looked back at her, worry and stress filling his eyes, and Emma remembered that she hadn't explained what they were watching at all.

"Nonono, this is a kid's cartoon- which means moving drawing with sound- and it's adorable and absolutely nothing like the real Neverland. You'll see." Emma promised quickly, and to prove her point she grabbed his good hand and squeezed it.

"Well... as long as they got my good side, I'll like it." The pirate decided. Emma repressed a laugh as he smiled at her and the couple refocused on the movie. He was pretty quiet while the Darlings had their whole beginning scene, though he looked pretty confused at how the Darling children looked. And then Peter showed up.

"Who the bloody hell is that?" He asked, making a face at the screen.

Emma was about to reply, but on-screen Wendy shrieked "Peter Pan!"

Hook's jaw just about dropped to the floor, and he looked at Emma intently. "Seriously? What... How did they even think... That's just so wrong on so many levels." Hook turned his wide eyes back to the movie as Wendy sewed his shadow back on. "Wait, she put his shadow back on him and he's okay with that? And who is that fair- THAT'S TINK?" He exclaimed at the screen. He looked like a normal guy in jeans yelling at his sports, except that it was a Disney children's cartoon. Emma yet again repressed another giggle as he shook his head at the screen.

"What idiot made this?" He muttered, and Emma made the smart decision not to answer. "Second star to the right my ass." was his comment as the Darling children flew off into the night.

And so the movie progressed, and Hook kept making quiet, snarky remarks- that was until he saw cartoon him.

"Well that's rubbish, who's that supposed to be?" He raised his eyebrows at the long-haired carton man in a big hat and red robes

And Emma couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. "That's you!" She choked out before doubling over laughing at Hook's absolutely mortified face.

"_Me?!_ That's what they think I look like?" He demanded, and Emma just laughed and nodded and laughed some more.

After a minute of consideration, the pirate himself joined in with her laughing after realizing how silly it was, the image of real him in a hat with a bouncing pink feather on top.

"And just imagine you," Emma gasped through peals of giggles, "In those pink robes!" She fell against him, gasping for air while still laughing hysterically.

"I'd look fantastic!" Hook exclaimed indignantly, but he was grinning as well. "I've been told pink is my color by many a pirate." He added, grabbing one of the pink pillows and placing it next to his face for demonstration. Emma just shook her head, her cheeks and abs aching from such laughter. "At least in the movie I have nice hooks." He noted a few minutes later as cartoon Captain Hook picked through his assortment of attachments.

They continued watching the movie, the real pirate's arm tossed casually across the Savior's shoulders. About every five minutes, they laughed at how ridiculously off the movie was from real life. It was better than the alternative, which was to be morose about all that they'd suffered. Who would want to frown when they could smile.

After the movie ended and credits rolled, Emma glanced up at her boyfriend's face. "So, on a scale of one to ten, one being horrible and ten being fantastic, how was the movie?"

"Negative ten." He declared seriously, and Emma rolled her eyes.

"Whatever pirate." She got up and stretched, moving to take the movie out of the player. She'd rewind it later.

"You know you're cute when you roll your eyes." He commented lazily from the couch. Emma put away the movie and walked back over to him and made an ugly face, scrunching up her nose and sticking out her tongue at him.

The dark-haired man shook his head. "Still cute." He said, and leaned over and kissed her, taking her by surprise, but she quickly relaxed into the kiss, tangling her hands in his soft hair, leaning her neck back as he moved his kissed to her jaw, her neck, and collarbone before moving back to stare at her face. The unspoken question was in his eyes, and though Emma hadn't really been planning on it, she nodded and then they were fiercely kissing again. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up and realized he was carrying her.

"You know, the couch wasn't bad." She murmured, but she didn't really mind.

"You deserve so much more than a couch, Miss Swan." He whispered in her ear. She soon let any protest, or any thought, fly from her mind. All that really mattered then was their love.

* * *

**... Well then. I honestly didn't intend for that to happen. Oops. But I'm so not sorry.**

**The next chapter will include David's reaction to their relationship, and how Emma convinced Hook to dress like a normal person. I know, I know, backwards, but I wanted to show more of the cute stuff before I unleash the sleeping lion of a father's protectiveness of his little girl. Y'know.**

**QUESTION: Have you ever climbed a tree? It seems like a silly question, butI met a few people this past summer who hadn't and I just about flipped out at them for not having done so. Like, what?**

**BYENOW!**


	3. Dads & Jeans

**A/N: Yayy more Captain Swan! Did you guys see the promo? DID YOU SEE THE LOOK? I know I'm reading way too into it, but still, it gave me feels. The last episode, when David was like "You think I'm interested in Hook? Emma, I'm a married man." I just about died. Anyway, Remember that these are pre-last chapter. I just got excited and couldn't wait to post that one. After this, it'll be all normal and such. Not much else to say, except that I also edited this one, and it's shorter than normal.**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

**Dads & Jeans**

"Hey... Dad..." Emma had said hesitantly to the man who couldn't have looked more than ten years older than her. David, however, smiled at the effort, and patted the seat next to him. "Where's Mary- er, Mom?" She was really making an effort, but it was just too frigging _weird_ to call Mary-Margret Mom, much less Snow White.

"Oh, she went off to get us coffees from Granny's. It's been," the prince paused and checked his watch, "Ten minutes. She probably found Ruby and wanted to have a long, meaningful chat or something." He chuckled, and Emma had smiled as she sat down because that was such a dad thing to say. "So what's new with you?" He asked, leaning back.

_Well, yesterday I kissed the pirate you've been steering me away from. Great kisser, too. I also may be in love with him, just a heads-up. _She thought, but what she'd actually said was. "Oh, nothing. Just readjusting."

"Aren't we all?" His gaze landed on Rumple and Belle who were taking a stroll down the street, all cuddled up together and completely in love. "Regina's spell couldn't keep us unhappy forever." He noted. Emma thought about a certain pirate and nodded, smiling as she remembered the night before, the snow,their talk, and, of course, the kiss.

"So, what's his name?" David asked nonchalantly, catching Emma off guard. She turned to face him.

"How did you kno- I mean, what are you talking about?" Then Emma had flushed red at her own horrible cover-up.

David chuckled in that all-knowing Dad-way. He really was a much better dad than she gave him credit for, especially considering he'd only remembered/met her a year ago. "I do know what it's like to be in love, Emma. And I know what it looks like. And you've got it bad." He grinned at his own cleverness.

"I kissed Hook! Again!" She blurted. That wiped the smile clean off David's face.

"Wait- you what?" He sounded panicked, as though he suddenly realized he didn't want Emma to be in love and wanted to ship her off to a nunnery in Switzerland.

"Jesus, don't have a heart attack. I kissed him. I like him. He likes me. We're gonna try the dating thing." Emma informed her father placatingly, like he might spontaneously combust if she explained it any other way. He did almost catch fire the first time he found out she and Hook kissed.

"You're gonna date a one-handed pirate with a drinking problem? He tried to kill Rumple- hell, he tried to kill all of us!" Charming exclaimed furiously, his face scrunching up like some sort of dragon's, and Emma scanned the area for any fire extinguishers, but her search yielded nothing.

"And breathe." Emma placed a hand on her dad's shoulder, and he exhaled, a frustrated look on his face, probably because he wasn't there to scare away the dweebs going for Emma when she was young. But then she wouldn't have had Henry, and Regina would be a worse person because of it. "If It doesn't work out, you can say 'I told you so'. You own those rights."

"Fine. I'll also be there with a tub of chocolate ice cream, and a jet to Switzerland to get you to that nunnery."

Emma laughed and side-hugged her dad, just happy that she finally had her real dad, who she could love, be embarrassed by, and rely on at the same time.

And since that was a private conversation, naturally, the entire town found out.

Now

"Put. Them. On."

"Not. Bloody. Happening."

They were talking, of course, about the pair of jeans Emma was holding towards Hook. He was backing away from her and the jeans slowly, with a disgusted look on his face, as though the jeans were the plague itself.

"Just for like five minutes," The blonde woman wheedled, but Hook just crossed his arms.

"I'm not putting on some hideous, beaten-up, blue pants that you are currently shoving in my face." Hook declared defiantly as he backed away as Emma took a threatening step closer.

"They're normal, brand-spanking-new jeans that you will wear or so-help-me-God I will hide all of the rum. _All_ of it."

Hook's face went slack. "You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" The woman stared him straight in the eye, not backing down, already plotting out where she could hide the drinks.

Pause. "Five minutes." The pirate relented. Emma cheered and kissed him briefly before pushing him into the other room so he could change.

A few minutes later, the pirate emerged in his black leather jacket and The Jeans.

He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment before asking "Do these jeans make me look fat?"

* * *

**That's such a Hook thing to say, right?**

**Question: What is your favorite kind of toothbrush? (again, this is courtesy of my friend)**

**BYENOW!**


	4. The Game of Life

**A/N: Hey, there! How are you all doing? I'm really behind on homework, so I may not post for a few days until I get all caught up. We're nearing the dreadful midterms, which, if you haven't had them, are the most stressful time of the year- aside from, you know, finals.**

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story! I'm having a lot of fun writing it, so as long as you like it, I'll keep adding on! I'm so nice- I even edited it. That's my Christmas/Holiday/End of Year gift to you all: a whole month of completely edited and double-checked chapters ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"Your move." Henry announced, although it was obvious. Emma and Henry were the only ones in the apartment. Emma glanced at her tiny yellow station wagon sitting on the "Path of Life". Henry had insisted that Emma should play the game LIFE at least once in her life, so she relented, and was having plenty of fun as they sipped their hot cocoa with cinnamon and sat on the floor with a colorful board of unrealistic scenarios displayed in front of them. She and Henry had both opted for the college track, and so far she had studied abroad in Europe and had to pay $20,000 Life dollars for schoolbooks. Unrealistic? Yes. Amusing? Very much so.

The wind howled and both mother and son started, glancing out the window at the blizzard that was raging on outside. Snow pelted angrily down, quickly coating the streets in the cold, white dust. The temperatures had dropped to sub-zeros, so Emma had no doubt that school would be cancelled for Henry the next day.

She spun the little rainbow wheel. "Ten. Looks like I've graduated from college." She moved her car up to the GRADUATE square.

"Now you have to pick your job." Henry explained, holding out a bunch of blue CAREER cards to her. "You can pick two."

"It's so funny how our real life is so off from this- Lawyer or Entertainer? Really?" Emma set down the two cards that she had picked. "What was I even studying?"

"Just choose lawyer. The whole point of Life- the game, that is- is to have the most money." Henry explained, shuffling the cards and setting them on the floor next to him.

"Ain't that the truth." Emma mumbled.

It took Henry two more spins to get out of college, and by then Emma was nearing the marriage stop.

"Hang on just a second. Are you telling me everyone has to get married in this game?" Emma asked, staring at the inevitable plastic chapel.

"Yeah." Henry snickered, looking at Emma's confounded expression.

"That's false hope right there," The savior spun a two, picked up the little yellow car, and reached the married square.

"Here's your new husband." Henry handed Emma a blue peg to put in her car.

"Dear God, I feel really sorry for pink-peg-me." She quipped, taking another sip of her cocoa.

They played pretty quietly after that, making amused comments here and there, until they were interrupted by a loud hammering on the door. Emma checked her watch. "Who the hell needs us at ten o-clock at night?" She grumbled as she went to check the door.

"Hello, Swan." The pirate looked frozen, literally. Snow was gathered on his hair like a layer of frosting, and his eyelashes appeared to be made of icicles. His normally tan face was as white as the quickly-melting snow on his hair- hair which appeared to have frosted over.

"Oh my god, Hook!" Emma exclaimed, shocked as she took in his appearance. "What are you doing here? Why to you look like a snowman?" She demanded as she pulled him to the living room, slamming the door behind him. "Henry- it's Hook. I'll be right back, I need to get him a towel or a blanket or something." She called as she ran up the stairs, mentally running through all of the reasons at to why a pirate would have walked through a blizzard to get to her house and came up with nothing.

Thirty seconds later she dashed back downstairs, her arms full of towels and blankets, and handed one to Henry before taking one herself and proceeded to dry off the soggy pirate, who was now standing stiffly in her warm living room, the snow melting off him and gathering into puddles on the ground.

"Oh, jeez, don't ruin my floor. Up." Emma knelt down and gestured for him to stand on the towel she'd laid down on the ground. "Why did you walk through a blizzard?" She asked bluntly, continuing to towel dry her pirate. Henry wrapped a towel around Hook before announcing that he was going off to make more hot chocolate for the pirate.

"My ship was frrreezing. Maine weather..." He shivered in disapproval- or maybe that was an actual shiver. The icicles had melted, the water running down his cheeks like tears, and Emma leaned up to peck him on the lips, feeling bad for him. He smiled before continuing, "I figured you'd let me stay overnight? If not I can sleep in the hallway or-"

"Of course you can stay," She told him, affection coloring her tone. Henry gagged from the kitchen. She blushed and wiped some of the water off Hook's face. "Come on upstairs, I have some sweats you can borrow."

"Emma, as kind as that is, I don't think pink sweatpants are really my style-"

"They're not pink sweatpants, you ninny." Emma swatted the man's shoulder before leading him upstairs.

"Here... and here." Emma chucked oversized sweatpants and an old sweatshirt from god-knows-where at him. "Take off that... pirate-suit-thing... take a shower, put these on, and then come downstairs, okay?" She turned and started back down the stairs.

"It's not a suit!" He objected from behind her. The blonde woman just rolled her eyes and kept moving.

"Hey, kiddo. Sorry our night was kinda, well, interrupted." Emma apologized to Henry as she came down, sitting on the second-to-bottom step.

The young kid just shrugged. "It's fine," Henry glanced at the board with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "I knew I was gonna win anyway." He added.

Emma feigned shock. "Nuh-uh. I had this one in the bag." She stared pointedly at her small stack of twenty thousand Life dollars compared to Henry's $100,000s and $50,000s.

"I was gonna wi-in." Henry sing-songed as he retrieved his cocoa from the ground, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Emma jumped up from her stair defiantly. "No way. We are settling this now!" She declared, and settled back into her original seat, in front of the board, with her back to the stairs, ready to redeem herself, mostly to save herself from eternal mocking from her son. All thoughts of a sexy pirate taking a shower in her bathroom disappeared from her mind as she focused on the Game of Life with her son.

So, naturally, Emma didn't notice when the pirate came down the stairs, much quieter in sweats and socks than he'd been in his leather pirate getup. She didn't see him press a finger to his lips, telling Henry not to give him away. She didn't feel his presence as he watched mother and son play a board game for about five minutes. She did, however, nearly have a heart attack when he cleared his throat from right behind her.

"Jesus Christ! Or son of a-" She cut herself off, glancing at Henry, who was failing at hiding a snicker. "You son of a mother." she finally hissed, which got both of the guys in her apartment full-out laughing. Emma rolled her eyes. "Not funny." She grumbled, taking an angry sip of her hot chocolate.

Hook sat down on the floor next to her. "Sorry, love, but I'm not sorry." He half-apologized, and Emma leaned back to give him the what-the-hell-are-you-saying look, which he dismissed with a flick of his hook.

"Maybe you can redeem yourself from those actions by helping me win." Emma suggested. Though Henry was still far ahead of her money-wise, she was father ahead on the Path of Life itself. Stupid name for a one-way road, but she wasn't the game maker.

"From what I can distinguish from this rather odd game, I feel I can say that you cannot win at this. You're almost at the end of the road and have no money."

"Yeah, but I have two cars full of kids. I actually had to choose another car for the overflows." Emma complained, picking up her yellow and orange cars, full of pink and blue pegs to show him. "That's just plain wrong" She added, shaking her head.

"I didn't take you as the ten-kids type, Swan," Hook noted, and Emma fake-gagged, sounding like Henry.

"Oh, please. It's the stupid game. I literally landed on basically every kid's square." She said, tapping on squares in question.

The one-handed man squinted at the tiny writing on the board. "Vacation- $5,000 per person?" He raised his eyebrows.

"That is the most accurate pricing in this game yet." Emma muttered, moving her cars to the last square: the retirement driveway. "I guess I'll retire to Countryside Acres, as I'm not exactly adequate to be a part of Millionaire Estates."

Henry, of course, retired to Millionaire Estates, and beat her out money-wise by about two million dollars. "I told you so!" He gloated.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She quickly put away the game, only slightly embarrassed that her boyfriend had seen her get beaten in a children's game by her own son. "It's bedtime for you, kiddo." She informed Henry, trying to sound unperturbed by all of the gloating he was doing.

The young boy whined and groaned as he got up, complaining of the "indignity" and how "completely unfair" that "The truest believer had to go to bed".

"Even heroes need their rest, kid." Emma reminded him gently as she tucked him in upstairs. The tucking-in was new, but it felt right, natural. Henry smiled up at Emma sleepily before rolling over and closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Henry." His mother whispered before turning off the lights and exiting the room.

She tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to make any noise, but nearly tripped and fell on her face in shock at the sight of her kitchen. Or, should she say, a certain pirate in her kitchen. Cleaning her dishes.

"What the hell?" She whispered, in complete and utter surprise.

Hook glanced up at his girlfriend skeptically. "What, you like having dirty dishes?"

"No- It's just... you... cleaning dishes..." She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth, trying to hide an amused grin.

Hook pretended to be unperturbed as he continued holding the handle of the mug by his hook and scrubbed it with the sponge. But then he started whistling.

Emma couldn't keep it in anymore. A laugh bubbled up her throat and out of her lips, and Hook smiled before continuing his whistling, as she realized he did that all for her. The man standing before her had walked through a blizzard to get to her, yet he stood here, cleaning her dishes just to make her laugh.

* * *

**Aww, Hook, you're so nice :3**

**Question: Cats, dogs, or other?**

**(Reviews make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed, sing like a bird and dizzy in my head.)**

**BYENOW!**


	5. Cookies: Round Two

**A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! I'll be posting this so we can all get our Captain Swan feels before the finale tonight. I have no doubt that it will rip my heart out. So I think we all deserve a little Captain Swan happiness before all of that trauma begins. This chapter is a kinda spin-off of my one-shot Cookies, but if you haven't read it, you'll still understand.**

**Please excuse me now, while I go drown my feels in Tumblr, hot chocolate, and cookies ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

A Lesson in Baking

"Emma, is this really necessary?" Hook groaned as she dragged him away from the television with which he had become infatuated, and into the kitchen.

"Yes. No matter how sweet it was, I cannot have you practically burning down my apartment every time you try to make a cute gesture with food." Emma turned to him and crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"They were only little flames." Hook made about an inch of space between his index finger and thumb to demonstrate.

The blonde girl just scoffed and pointed to the twisted piece metal that used to be the pan, now hanging on her wall. Hook spread his fingers a little farther apart to appease her.

"Okay, so I have all of the ingredients. Let's get to work." Emma slapped the recipe down on the counter for her boyfriend to see.

Hook paused. "Emma, you do know I bought the cut-and-bake ones from the market, right? I don't actually know how to cook."

Emma pushed a bowl toward him. "And now you're gonna learn. Two cups of flour. That's hard to mess up." She gave him a measuring cup and the bag of flour. "Get to work."

In a separate bowl, she mixed the wet ingredients quickly and efficiently, pausing every few seconds to make sure her boyfriend hadn't messed up the drys.

"Okay, okay, that's good! Now slowly- _slowly_, dummy- pour some into here while I mix it." She didn't have an electric mixer, and had the joy of whisking the ingredients together by hand which was... difficult to say the least.

"Let me, love." Hook said once he'd finished dumping the flour mix into the other bowl, and without waiting for an invitation, reached over and took the bowl from her and began whisking the ingredients together far more easily than she could, and Emma stared at his biceps for a brief second, saw them straining against his leather jacket as he quietly stirred. After that moment, she blinked, remembering what she was doing.

"Well then," She said drily, regaining some of her sarcasm. "Go ahead, pirate. I really hope you can't mess up batter."

Hook grinned at her, as if to say _Even if I did, you'd still like me_. It was true. It was hard to believe that the sweet man staring at her with a boyish grin had once been a ruthless yet lost pirate, whose only goal in life was revenge. Though, Regina and Rumple had both redeemed themselves for their horrible crimes against others, so she supposed Hook was not exempt from this "redemption infection". Not that she was complaining in the slightest.

"Time for the chocolate chips!" Emma announced, pulling herself out of her contemplative thoughts. She dumped about half of the bag of chocolate chips into the mix, and the pirate paused in his stirring to pluck a couple out of the mix and popped them into his mouth, grinning as he chewed.

"Delicious." He confirmed, reaching into the bowl again, only to have his hand swatted away by Emma.

"Don't make me cut you." She warned, glancing pointedly at the knife holder that sat by the sink. Hook just continued to grin as he went back to stirring. "Okay, okay, that's good. On to the cookie sheet they go." Emma handed Hook a spoon and took one for herself and began moulding the dough into spherical-like-shapes and dropping them onto the pan. She got through about four before realizing she was the only one contributing.

Turning to Hook, she discovered the pirate leaning on the counter, eating a spoonful of dough as he watched her.

"Oh, keep going, love." He gestured to the bowl with his spoon. "Don't let me stop you."

"That spoon wasn't for eating the dough, Hook." Emma groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"I figured that out. But it doesn't mean I _shouldn't_ eat it, anyway." He shot her a self-satisfied smirk. Emma rolled her eyes, and in one swift movement, leaned down and twisted his hook out of it's holder thing on his left arm. She leaned back and dangled the silver item in front of the man's eyes like car keys. Hook glanced between it and his spoon of cookie dough, debating whether or not to give up his snack for his other appendage. "Emma..." He resorted to whining like a little kid who really wanted the giant swirly lollipop at an amusement park.

"You'll get this back when we're done here." Emma informed him curtly, deciding on the spot. The blonde woman glanced around for a place to put a hook, and eventually decided on the silverware drawer.

"You couldn't have found a nicer place for it?" He asked, glaring at the drawer where she had placed his beloved hook as he rolled misshapen balls of cookie dough with one hand.

"Sorry, I decided on not buying a special case for a hook at Wal-Mart last week. I'll put it on my list for next time, though." Emma quipped as she returned to placing more dough on the pan, this time with them help of Hook. "Okay, we're good." She announced, snatching up the pan and tossing it into the oven, setting the timer for ten minutes. "Let's clean up this mess."

The couple spent the next few minutes in silence, quietly putting away ingredients and cleaning appliances and countertops.

"Hey, Emma?" Hook finally broke the silence, sitting down at the now-flour-free counter.

"Yeah?" She asked, not turning around as she rearranged the spices in her cabinet.

"Am I allowed to have my hook back yet?" She turned to see the pirate giving her the puppy-dog-eyes.

"Hmm... Nah, I'm good." Emma grinned and sauntered over to him, enjoying being in charge.

If it had been anyone else, Hook would have probably knocked them out at that, but since it was Emma, he simply said, "Please?"

Emma, still grinning, shook her head and leaned down to give him a peck on the lips, but he reached up and wrapped his arms around her torso, effectively deepening the kiss. She tried to pull away. "The cookies..." She murmured, but Hook just silenced her by placing his lips back on hers. She gave in and ran her fingers through his hair as the man stood up and pressed her against the counter, moving his lips from hers to her jawbone, her neck, her collarbone. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers again, jumping back when the timer gave off it's shrill ring, killing the mood.

"I've got it." Hook murmured, and Emma nodded, still a little dizzy and oxygen deprived. She just barely remembered to tell Hook he needed an oven mitt right before he reached into the oven to retrieve the cookies bare-handed.

"How do they look?" Hook asked her, plopping the pan of golden-brown, chocolate-chip beauties down on the counter for her observation.

"Perfect."

They put those cookies on a plate and rolled the rest of the cookie dough into balls and popped them in the oven.

After Emma had finished cleaning the rest of the stuff they'd used, she turned to Hook, who had stolen another spoonful of cookie dough before Emma had cleaned up, and was now eating it with obnoxious slowness. "Oh, for god's sake, just eat it already!" She growled as the man nibbled on what seemed to be just a couple of granules of sugar.

"Swan, you're going to pop a vein. Breathe." He warned her bracingly, so the blonde woman simply reached over across the counter and stole his spoon. "You did not just-" He cut himself off as she ate the entire scoop in one bite. "You're a cruel woman, Miss Swan."

"And you're an annoying pirate, Hook."

He searched to a comeback, but found himself silently gaping like a fish out of water. He settled on crossing his arms and glaring at her. Emma simply mirrored him.

Of course, they were so wrapped up in their silent argument, they didn't even remember that no one set the timer for the cookies. Only when the black smoke started wafting out of the oven, and the smell of burning cookies floated into their noses did Emma jump up and throw open the oven to be greeted by lumps of smoldering charcoal.

"Jesus!" She snatched a mitt and yanked the pan out of the oven before running over to the fire escape and tossing the pan out there, and left the window open to let the smoke clear.

"Well at least there weren't any flames this time." Hook commented coming up behind her, completely sincere in his optimism. Emma scowled at him, and glanced down to see that he'd reattached his beloved silver hook while she'd been preoccupied.

"Shuddup."

"Yes, dear." He simply quipped, following her back over to the kitchen as she grabbed a cookie from the plate of good ones and took an angry bite.

"If this pan for whatever reason gets ruined, you're buying me a new one." She growled, jabbing her finger in the direction of the fire escape.

"But first you're going to stop being so grumpy." Hook told her. Emma pouted, but took a deep, steadying breath.

"Okay, fine. Sorry for being rude today. I just really didn't want to burn my apartment down, y'know?"

He pulled her into a hug. "That happens to be an ambition for many people, myself included."

She laughed and turned to look out the window at the steaming pan hiss as snow tried to settle upon its surface.

* * *

**Aww, so cute! If you guys want the best chocolate-chip cookie recipe in the world, PM me and I'll send it to you! Or really any other dessert recipe- I love baking.**

**QUESTION: Hogwarts or a trip in the TARDIS?**

**OTHER QUESTION: Would you guys like it if I started calling Hook by his real name, Killian? Just curious!**

**BYENOW!**


	6. Merry Christmas, Captain Swan!

**A/N: Hello, lovelies! Merry Christmas! And to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, happy winter! I know I said that this would be up when the next chapter to the Melissa and Joey thing went up, but my collar author said it wouldn't be until after Christmas, so I'm just gonna upload this now, so as not to keep you waiting. In the spirit of Christmas, I give you cheesiness, some romance, and some comedy. Mostly comedy. Next chapter will be far more romantic, I promise.**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

Merry Christmas

"What. The. Hell?" Were the first words out of Emma's mouth as she walked into Granny's and saw her boyfriend... and the hat on his head.

"What?" He asked defensively, placing a hand on the Santa cap currently residing on top of his head. "It's Christmas, isn't it? This is what you do in your land on Christmas, right?"

"It's Christmas _Eve_," Emma corrected as she slid into the booth he was relaxing in. She promptly reached over and stole the hardly-touched hamburger that was sitting on the plate in front of him. The pirate's mouth opened into an offended _o_ as she took a large bite, smiling as she chewed. "Thanks."

"That's just cruel, Swan." He dramatically clutched his heart as she returned the burger to his plate. He caught her hand and interlaced it in his. Emma smiled at the simple yet sweet gesture.

"It was just sitting there, being all uneaten. I couldn't just leave it. It's not my fault that you're a neglectful burger-eater." She chided, before turning to Granny, who had slipped up as quietly as ever to take her order.

"I was being polite and waiting for my girlfriend to arrive." Emma couldn't help but notice Hook was still struggling with the word 'girlfriend', which, apparently, hadn't been a common word common in the Enchanted Forest. She dismissed the thought quickly, and focused on how she could steal his fries without him noticing.

"Well I feel like the stealing is justified since you're wearing that heinous hat. You're watching too much television. Stop using cable to watch the 25 Days of Christmas thing on ABC." A panicked look crossed the man's face as he thought of being cut off from the wonderful things the television had shown him.

"No! Not the tel- What is it with you and stealing?" He cut his former statement off to ask, as Emma stole more of his fries and was now munching them with great satisfaction.

"You're still neglectful towards your food." She informed him, dipping a fry in the ketchup. He scowled at her, which looked strange, due to the Santa hat still atop his head.

"You're still being cruel."

"But you looooove me." Emma teased, grinning.

Hook gave her a serious look, his mood changing suddenly. "I do, actually."

Emma paused. "You do?" They'd never actually dropped the "love" word around each other, at least, not in serious conversation. She had a feeling that they were both to afraid to declare it aloud- too afraid to make this completely real.

"Yes." He held her eyes- as if she could look away right now- and said without a doubt, "I love you, Emma Swan. I thought I could never find someone I'd love again, but you always have been full of surprises. I just never thought one of them would be love." Emma's face flushed at his cheesiness, but didn't look away, and tried to find a non-clichéd way to say _I love you too._

"I suppose a 'Ditto' won't suffice?" She guessed hopefully, and Hook smiled and shook his head to say _no_. Emma sighed dramatically before saying in a light voice. "I guess I kinda really love you too." She finally declared, holding back a grimace at the pure and utter Velveeta cheesiness of the situation- but at the same time, she was thrilled that _Hook loved her_. It was almost too much, too fairy-tale-esque. Not that she was complaining, it was just that a lifetime of letting go and not letting herself love or trust was finally coming to an end, all because of a one-handed pirate with a slight drinking problem- though it was less of a _problem_ and more of a straight-up love of rum. But he'd drunk less rum since they'd arrived in Storybrooke, though he may have had to ration it, due to the lack of any in Storybrooke and-

"Swan?" Hook snapped his fingers, jerking Emma out of her inner monologue and back into the present.

"I'm here, don't worry." She squeezed his hand in confirmation. He beamed at her like a ray of sunlight, and Emma had to glance down to make sure her entire body hadn't melted into a puddle. Miraculously, she was still solid.

"Oh, and I have a request for my Christmas present." Hook added, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

Emma sat up straighter. "Y'know, usually presents are a surprise."

"Well, you can get me another present if you want to surprise me." He informed her, and Emma rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "But my request is... for you to call me Killian... Maybe?" He ducked his head bashfully, and glanced up at her through his bangs, waiting for her answer.

Emma burst out laughing. "Oh, thank god. No offense, but I feel awkward calling you 'Hook' all the time. I always get the picture of cartoon Hook in my head with the perm and the feather in the hat..." She paused, trying not to giggle so hysterically. "so, yeah, I'll call you Killian from now on." She grinned, and Killian looked at her gratefully, wondering where she had been all his life.

"Fantastic."

"Now I get to request my present." Emma beamed mischievously.

Killian made a loud and melodramatic gulping sound. "Oh dear god, what is it?" If _Emma_ was being mischievous, it must have been something really intense. Emma leaned across the table and whispered it in Killian's ear. His eyes widened as she pulled back. "Is that even possible?" He asked, completely and utterly confused.

Emma shrugged. "That's your responsibility to find out. That was just my request." She sat back, grinning at his face, wondering how he would manage to pull it off- and she knew Killian would never back down from a challenge, even one as trivial as her Christmas present.

Just as he was about to protest, Emma's phone rang, and she answered it in a flash, holding a finger up to silence Killian. "Uh-huh. Okay- no, Dad, slow down. Okay. Why would Grumpy be there in the first place? He should know after what happened all the times before. No, it's fine, I have the pick-axe, duct tape and gum at the station, I'll bring them over- just don't let the seagulls near him!" Emma sighed and snapped her phone shut. "Sorry, I gotta go. Grumpy went and did that thing with the dock and a tire again." She pecked Killian on the lips after she gathered her things. "See ya at the apartment later tonight, right babe?"

"Yeah, see you there, Swan." He saluted her as she ran out and hopped in her yellow Bug.

"Anything else?" Granny asked, coming over to pick up his empty plate.

Killian paused. "Actually, do you know where I could get a year's worth of supply of hot cocoa mix and cinnamon?"

* * *

**What do you think Grumpy did? Because I honestly don't know. Also, I spelled my name wrong up there multiple times. Super-embarassing, even though no one saw. And that happens a lot**

**Question: What do you celebrate during the holidays?**

**Question #2: Do you even have those times where one or two of your fingers are really cold, and the others are ****_really_**** hot? Because that's what's happening to my pinky finger and thumb and it's annoying the heck outta me, as it happens a lot.**

**BYENOW!**


	7. Moms

**A/N: So, I have no idea what the heck I just wrote. It's a little past midnight and I'm in a bad-ish mood so I didn't write anything with Velveeta cheesiness - in fact, I dropped the cheesiness level to swiss. Yikes. I also saw Saving Mr. Banks tonight and almost started crying. I don't know why it's rated PG when it makes me so sad. But it's a wonderful movie, don't get me wrong. Anyway, back to the story: no idea what I just rose, not completely fluff, kinda short I think, no spelling errors, and the next chapter of the Melissa and Joey fic is up! Check out BellaItaliana93's page to read it! You read this while I go to bed now. **

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"I think we should take a road trip." Emma announced briskly as she entered the apartment. Killian glanced up from the book he was reading. He hadn't expected to find Twilight interesting, but was very intrigued at the fact that a hundred-year-old vampire would fall in love with a pale, unhappy human so quickly. Then again, he had done basically the same thing, so he couldn't really judge Edward all that much.

"Why?" He earmarked the page, and snapped the book shut.

Emma took note of her boyfriend's choice in literature and scoffed, but didn't criticize him. "Because we can both leave Storybrooke without losing our memories, and I think we should take advantage of that. And besides," She flopped down on the couch, propping her feet up on Killian's lap, "I'm sick of being cramped up in this town."

"But Sheriff, won't the town collapse without you?" The pirate asked in mock horror.

Emma sat up to smack him lightly on the shoulder. "I can hand off police duties to my dad. He's deputy anyway."

"Okay, say we get the whole town-not-falling-apart thing covered. Where would we go? And don't you have a son?" Killian looked her in the eye, determined to figure out the cause of her sudden keep interest in a road trip.

Emma glanced down quickly, not wanting him to see through her- as usual. Not this time. "I can send Henry to Regina's. She'd be thrilled. And we could to go New York or Boston or Disneyland- Oh, let's go to Disneyland!" She exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his one hand with her two strong ones, her eyes glowing with childish enthusiasm. "I've never been before, and there's no time like the present!"

"Emma, why are you so keen on traveling this very instant?" Killian caught her chin with his hand, and finally held her eyes, searching, determined to figure her out.

She sighed sadly, relenting. "Fine, I'll tell you if you stop doing that whole soul-searching-with-your-eyes thing. Thank you. Okay, I had an argument with Mary Margret- er, Snow, or Mom- I still don't get what I should be calling her!" Emma abruptly digressed angrily, until Killian cleared his throat, reminding Emma of what she had been saying. "Right. Ah, so I told her I still had a hard time calling her Mom, and she got all offended-"

"Well she _is_ your mum-"

"Shut up," Emma cut the man off, holding up her hand to him. He blinked at it, crossing his eyes slightly. "This is my rant. Anyway, so she got all offended, saying how Henry calls me mom even though he just met me, and I told her not to bring Henry into this, and she said 'Why? You're his birth mother, and you're trying to be this great mom and all, but you can't be! Regina raised him! She- that _witch_- is his real mother, and that is _your_ fault!'" Emma bit the inside of her cheek, looking away.

"That doesn't sound like Snow. Isn't she supposed to be all happiness, no altercations so-help-me-god?" He asked, shocked that Snow would say that to her own daughter. The fact that Snow would say that to anyone, in fact, was surprising.

"Believe me, it was her. Anyway, I may have said some... mean things to her about shipping me off to the real world when I was born, and I eventually got up and left. I need to get out of this town for a bit, and cool off." Emma swung her legs down from the couch, jumping up. "So, Disneyland?"

Killian hesitated, and then sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Swan, I really can't, but you have to stay here. You have to make up with your mother."

Emma swiveled around on her heel and stared down at him, her eyes a mix of leftover anger and new confusion. "What? Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because you both had made sacrifices for good reasons- the same reasons, in fact." Killian stood up, mostly because the way Emma was looking down at him made him nervous. "You wanted to give Henry his best chance when you gave him up, yes?"

"Well, yeah, but-" Killian cut Emma's protest off, shaking his hook at her like an index finger.

"No buts, Swan. You mother wanted to give you your best chance. If she hadn't given you up all of those years ago, this town would still be cursed, and Henry would never have been born."

"But we would have been a _family_." Emma whispered hoarsely, hot, salty tears springing into her eyes against her will. The image of the three of them, herself, Charming and Snow, living as a family, her growing up with them as parents, popped into her head yet again, and the endless _what if_'s ran through her brain, overwhelming her with impossibilities. It was hard to think straight, all of the thoughts in her head jostling for space and attention.

"Come here, love." Killian held out his arms and Emma unhesitantly ran into the hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck, trying to stop the sobs before they came, trying not to break down. "Regina would have cursed you and you would have been more miserable than you were in the foster system. Your parents did the only thing they could to save you. They let you go. They tried to save you by sending you away." He tried not to roll his eyes at the sappy heroicness of his girlfriend's heritage- or the fact that _he_ was the one giving an inspirational speech. "You can't blame them for wanting you now after all of these years- bloody hell, the fact that they're trying so hard says _something_." Killian pulled away, staring at Emma's tear-streaked face with what he could only hope was a gentle expression. "So apologize to your mother. Go on, you two can cry and hug or whatever it is you do when you apologize to your mother." Emma wrinkled her nose at the image.

"Fine." She finally consented, rolling her eyes and going for her bag. "But then Disneyland, right?"

"Yes, we can go to Disneyland." Killian agreed, wondering why _Disneyland_ of all things.

"Yes!" She cheered as she twirled out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind her, leaving the pirate in silence. Killian just shook his head and laughed, wondering just how much more mood-swingy Emma could possibly get this month.

* * *

**Theeeee end!**

**Question: Disney vs. Warner Bros. Who would win? Also, have you seen Frozen yet? SO CUTE I CAN'T EVEN...**

**BYENOW!**


	8. The Charmings (and more) Go To Disney P1

**A/N: Hi guys! How is everyone on this Fourth of January? I meant to post this about six days ago, but I kept forgetting to finish it and taking stuff out until I finally decided to make this a multi-part fic inside a fic. So they're gonna be wherever they're going for a little while. Anyway, I just wanna put some disclaimer-y things up here. For the "most prized possessions": I have no idea if these are accurate in any way, I just wanted them to be small, wearable, and believable. You'll understand as you read on. Second: Yeah, I am advertising the Portland Jetport a bit. It's a nice place, and gets you where you want to be even though it's small- okay, never mind. What I'm saying is, Maine has an airport.**

**Oh, and does anyone else count how much Tumblr they've scrolled through by the mile? I mean, I'm not actually measuring, but I got my Tumblr, oh, last month. I'm probably up to what could be forty-freaking-miles. Ugh...**

**Also, I learned that I have gotten 14,000 views on my stories in just December. You have no idea how much this means to me, and I just can't thank you enough for reading what I write, and still coming back for more. It's very amazing for me to write about what I love and actually have people read it so thank you. I appreciate and like you (but not love, because I am a robot- jokes. I just don't know any of you) a lot. Like, I like you a lot a lot.**

**Wow, that was long. Anyway, this has been a fantastic year for me, and I hope it has been great for you as well! Here's to another year of hope, happiness, sunshine, cupcakes, and- of course- heart-breaking, soul-shattering fandoms!**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

DISNEEEEEYWORLD

"Hey Killian," Emma greeted her boyfriend, squinting up at him on his ship, climbing down from the crow's nest. "I was looking for you."

The pirate rushed over to the makeshift stairs to the ship he'd set up. "M'lady." He bowed and held his hand out for her as she climbed the stairs. She giggled and accepted it.

"Thank you, _mate_." She whispered the last word in his ear in the worst British accent possible, but that didn't stop him from holding her close and kissing the tip of her nose, her eyelids, before moving down to her lips. She kissed him back, her mittened hands resting on the back of his neck, smiling against his lips. For a moment, she didn't feel the chill of Maine in the winter, or hear the seagulls cawing. She felt like she was back in a tropical jungle, lust finally being realized for the first time. Killian grazed his teeth along her bottom lip, causing her to give out a soft murmur. She pulled back, remembering why she'd been looking for him in the first place. "Killian…"

He tried to kiss her again but she pushed him away, a smile gracing her face. "Seriously, I wanted to tell you something."

"Can it wait? Because I can't think of anything more important than you right now." He whispered huskily. She shook her head.

"There's a change of plans for the Disney trip," They had actually made the trip real and official- much to Killian's dismay. "We're going to Disney_world_ instead of Disney_land_," Emma announced, "And... We're kinda bringing my entire family." Emma blurted the last part very quickly, causing Killian too glance up at her, confused.

"But... won't they lose their memories? Isn't that the whole point of us going to Disneyland- er, world in the first place?" Thankfully, he didn't sound mad, just genuinely confused.

Emma leaned on the side of the deck. "Well, you know that potion Rumple used to get himself out of Storybrooke?"

Killian eyed the blonde woman testily. "Yes..." He also had a very clear memory of stabbing said man with his Hook while they were outside of Storybrooke.

"Okay, so basically as long as they have one of their most prized possessions on them, they can't lose their memories!" Emma chirped excitedly, leaning forward even more until their noses were almost touching, the sensation before they would meet almost overwhelming both of them.

"I don't think anyone can _wear_ something like, say, a doll, Swan." Hook murmured, causing Emma to draw back playfully, only for him to catch her arm again, pulling her close for a kiss. She leaned against the side of the deck, knowing if she didn't, she would probably fall over and crash into a million different things and not even notice, as kissing Killian tended to make her do.

"Well, lucky for you..." Emma pulled away to finish her story, taking a steadying breath so her voice wouldn't shake before continuing, "Mary-Margret-slash-Snow-slash-my-mother's most prized possession is one of those unicorns that was in my nursery that I never lived in, my dad's is that ring that led him to my mom when she was under the curse. As to why they're so sentimental about little things is beyond me, but the good news is Rumple can use the potion on all of these things, for my mom, dad and Belle. So we can all go."

Killian's brow furrowed. "Wait, wait, wait. _Belle?_ Do you mean to say-"

"That Belle and Rumple are coming? Yeah, I do." Emma confirmed, glancing up at him. "And Neal. Wendy's not coming because she doesn't want to leave Storybrooke yet apparently."

"So, it'll be you, me, Henry, Snow, Charming, Belle, Rumple and Neal. Any other surprise people?" He asked, ticking off people with one hand, and using Emma's hand for the other two.

She hesitantly lifted a third finger. "Yeah, Regina. That was an obvious one though."

Killian rolled his eyes. "Of course. How on earth could I have missed that one?" He asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm taking you to Disneyworld. I'm talking Mouse ears, Space mountain- the whole shebang." She grinned at the thought of Killian on space mountain. "You're gonna need to switch your actual hook with a plastic one- they won't allow something like that through security." The look of horror on the pirate's face was almost too good to be true as she peeled herself away from the pirate and started slowly down the stairs. Killian's eyes followed her as she went, and finally gave up on cleaning the deck and followed her quickly.

"You're joking, right? _Right? _Swan!"

"Is everyone all ready? _All _of you?" Emma scanned their little group, checking off her mental list, making sure that that everyone had their bags, those who needed prized possessions had them, and they were all wearing shoes (it was a reasonable thing to worry about). It seemed that everyone was set and raring to go. "Let me get this straight..." Emma pulled out the "car" list she made the night before, trying to put everyone in cars where they would be least inclined to kill each other. "Neal, you'll be driving Snow's station wagon," She looked up at her ex-boyfriend, who nodding in affirmation, "With Regina, Rumple and Belle. You guys can sort out seating arrangements yourselves. Dad, you'll drive your truck with Mom, and Killian, Henry and I will be in my car. Sound good?" She checked with the others, who all mumbled agreements before turning to their respective cars. She turned to her son and boyfriend. "Whatever you guys need for the next hour-and-a-half, grab it now before I load your bags onto David's truck. It's a long drive to the Portland Jetport."

"Just let me say good-bye to my mom- well, my other mom." Henry quickly corrected himself before running over to his mother and giving her a huge hug. "Love you." He said, earning a huge grin and an "I love you too, Henry," before running back over to Emma, and grabbing a book and his iPod out of his bag.

"That's it?" Emma asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at her son. Henry nodded and tossed his bag onto the back of Charming's truck before climbing into the backseat of her yellow Bug.

"So. To this airport place?" Hook asked his girlfriend, tossing her bag onto the truck before his own. Emma nodded, smiling at the simple gesture.

"To the airport."

The ride to the airport was uneventful for the most part, though Emma had to swat Henry's head a couple of times for various snarky remarks- whether he'd gotten that from Regina or herself, Emma was not sure, but he was definitely clever with words. And that was _before_ he taught Killian how to use an iPod (As the man only knew how to text and make phone calls with one, but nothing more.). Suffice to say, it only got more amusing after that.

"You mean to tell me that I can ask this pod-"

"iPod," Emma and Henry both corrected him at the same time and laughed.

Killian just sighed. "You mean to tell me that I can ask this _iPod_ anything, and it will have an answer?"

Henry nodded enthusiactically. "I'll show you when I have internet connection. It only works when I have wifi."

That launched Henry, with the help of Emma, into explaining internet and wifi to Killian, though neither of them truly understood the specifics.

"So... the strings of data travel through the wires and up to a satellite?" Killian rubbed his temples which his hand and the blunt side of his hook, clearly more confused than ever.

"How about we ask the iPod when we get to the airport. We could all stand to learn about the internet, I think." Emma suggested, earning grumbles of agreement from the boys. Henry went on to teach the pirate how to play Temple Run 2 with one hand anyway.

"Yes! 10000 meters, Henry!" Killian cheered as he exited the car, his eyes glued to the screen.

"That's nice. Now give it back... Please." Henry held out his hand, but Killian pretended not to hear and kept running until Henry pressed the lock button on the device.

The pirate's blue eyes turned blue and desperate as the game disappeared. "No! What happened?"

"You lost your iPod privilages, that's what happened." Emma informed him cheerily, patting his shoulder. "Come on, we need our stuff." The pirate followed her to the truck, pouting the whole way. "Oh, babe, I forgot. Put your hook in the bag you're checking. You can't get that thing past TSA."

Killian balked, shaking his head. "No way, Swan. No. Not my hook."

Emma simply scoffed, twisting off his hook and tossed it in the bag. "Okay. Let's go."

After the hassle of checking bags, and signing slips and this and that, the little troupe made their way up the stairs (some opting for the escalator) to security.

"Now, you're gonna have to take your shoes and jackets off for security, okay?" Emma explained to her parents as they moved up in the line.

Snow and Charming exchanged befuddled looks. "But... why?" Charming asked, looking confusedly at the people ahead of them, who were casually putting their belongings into the buckets and sending them through the conveyor-belt-screening-thing unquestioningly.

"Because there are bad people in the real world too. They don't put curses on other people," Emma paused, glancing at Regina, who simply scoffed and rolled her eyes. "But they do some pretty bad stuff. The TSA makes sure they can't kill anyone- on planes." Charming nodded, still slightly confused, but overall satisfied with this answer as they reached security.

"Rumple, I'll go before you, just stay right behind me, okay?" Belle turned to her True Love as he prepared to take his scarf off.

"Of course, love." He kissed her forehead, causing her to giggle before walking through the screening thing, which went off immediately. Rumple paused, settling the scarf back around his shoulders, eyebrows raised in alarm.

"Ma'am, do you have anything on you that may be metal? A necklace or coins or anything?" One of the TSA agents asked her immediately.

Belle paused, her hand flying the key on her necklace. Her most prized possession- the key to the Storybrooke library that Rumple gave her. It was the only thing keeping her memories. "I, ah, I have my key. Do I have to take it off?" She asked, glancing at Rumple desperately.

"Yes, Miss. Just put it in one of those buckets, and you can get it back once you're through." He informed her calmly, kindly, as he recognized her as a first time flier.

Belle nodded shakily. "O-okay." She turned and walked back over to Rumple. David went through next, with no problem, and Mary-Margret followed.

Rumple squeezed Belle's hand as she reached for the clasp of her necklace. "You'll be fine, Belle." He murmured. The girl nodded, though her eyes were filled with fear. She didn't want to forget Rumple, didn't want to be Lacey again. But she had to take this chance. So, with a shaky breath, she dropped the necklace in the nearest bucket, turned, and hurried through the screener.

Once she was through, she paused, wondering why she was standing in an airport. She tried to remember. It was something about Disney...

"Belle!" A voice called. It sounded to far away. A blonde man ran up to her with something in his hand. She tried to back away, but was so dizzy, she nearly fell over. He caught her and pressed the key against her collarbone, quickly clasping the necklace around her neck.

With a jolt, Belle straightened up, nearly bonking heads with Charming. A look of immense relief passed over his face, but she wasn't sure if it was because she still had her memories, or because she didn't smash heads with him. Either way, she was relieved too. To think she almost forgot-

"Rum- er, Gold?" Emma's worried voice asked from a couple of feet away. Belle glanced up to see the older man gripping the silver surface next to the conveyor belt, waiting for his scarf to come through. She ran to him, seeing the dazed and confused look in his eyes.

"Rumple." Belle whispered, looking into his eyes. He slowly turned to her, but he gave her no sign of recognition. Belle felt panic rising from the pit of her stomach as she looked at the man who she saved, and who saved her. "Rumplestiltskin, don't you dare forget me, don't you dare!" She warned, grabbing his hand.

He started, about to slip his hand away, but then a change washed over him. Something in his face shifted, and he blinked a couple of times, dazed, but not in the way he had been a moment ago. "Belle?"

"Yes, yes, it's me!" She smiled, giddy that he had remembered her, even without the scarf.

"But, I'm not wearing my scarf. How could I-"

"It's true love or something." Regina grumbled, pushing past the happy couple to grab her things. "You two make me sick." She added, more jokingly than not.

Belle giggled, and Rumple made a face at the Not-As-Evil-As-Before Queen before reaching for his scarf, which had finally come through, along with his cane and shoes.

"That was exciting." Emma commented, clapping her hands once, getting everyone's attention.

"That's quite the understatement." Regina muttered. Neal and Snow nodded in agreement, which caused the three of them to exchange confused looks.

Emma rolled her eyes. "The Peanut Gallery can go somewhere else if they don't like all of the memory-threatening fun we're having here," Snow attempted to look at Emma sternly and ended up with a twitchy grimace, which sent Henry into peals of laughter. "Mom, you look like the Grinch, only he doesn't squeeze his left eye shut when blinking."

Snow scoffed, hardly noticing her daughter's use of the word 'Mom'. Henry continued to snicker until Regina and Neal poked him from either side. They then looked at each other in half-horror, as though realizing for the first time that they were co-parents. Emma tucked away her own smile before continuing. "We only have a half an hour before our flight, which means we should get going. Like, now."

"But I want Starbucks." Rumple whined, causing seven heads to turn to him, all eyes bearing the same bemused look. "What? Can't The Dark One crave a frappuchino every now and then?"

Emma blinked, trying to form a comprehensible thought, but all she could do was giggle. "What? What's a frappuchino?" Charming, Belle and Hook demanded at the same time, while Snow asked "What's a Starbuck?" causing both Emma and Neal to break into full-out laughter.

Henry rolled his eyes. "It's a coffee-milkshake, basically. Can we go now? Please?"

"Yeah, okay." Emma pulled herself together, catching her breath long enough to say "Make sure you have your tickets, and let's get this show on the road!"

"How did I get stuck next to you two?" The Evil Queen growled, glaring at Snow White and her Prince, who were contentedly holding hands and staring out the window at the people, carts and airplanes all purposefully moving about.

"It's not our fault," Snow defended, looking at Regina in her wide-eyed, innocent, gag-inducing Snow-White gaze. "Ask Emma."

Regina scowled. "I _did_."

A few rows away, Emma was holding Killian's hand. He rubbed the back of his neck with the stub of his left arm. "How do you _know_ that this plane is going to stay in the air?" He asked nervously, squeezing her hand 'till his knuckles were white. Emma winced. "Sorry." He released her hand.

Emma flexed her fingers. "It just will, okay?"

"Fine. But if we die, I am definitely blaming you."

Emma shrugged, settling her head on the pirate's shoulder. "Sounds good to me."

**I hope you liked this! I do realize that I said "thingy" when referring to the screening… thingies… and that it because I obviously don't know what they're called! I hope you enjoyed the fist chapter in the little Disney trip arc!**

**QUESTION: Which are more annoying: Brothers or sisters? (I have a brother and he's annoying the heck outta me right now)**

**BYENOW!**


	9. The Charmings (and more) Go To Disney P2

**A/N: Wow. I am just a horrible person. I am so sorry I haven't updated. It's just, I was telling someone about this chapter and they were like "Well, that's kinda silly, and redundant. It probably can't turn out very well." Thus halting my creativity train, and causing writer's block, making this chapter rather short. It was gonna be a multi part, but my excitement for this area in my story has been dulled, and I'm very, very sorry. I promise that if you want me to, I will revisit this idea later, maybe in an adjacent fic? Anyway, the next chapter to 24 Notes will be up soon, and then I'm going on a somewhat mini-hiatus, as midterms are next week, which means I need to focus as much as I can on school work. But after next week, I'll be back, and hopefully ahead on some chapters, but no promises! I'm so sorry, and I shall return soon!**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

Emma was shaken awake by Killian whispering "Swan! Wake up, we're landing!"

"Alright, alright." She blinked a couple of times, readjusting to her surroundings. She flexed the sore fingers on her right hand, fingers that had, until moments ago, been interlaced- on a vise-like grip- with Killian's. "Yeesh, have you been gripping my hand this whole time?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "I suppose I may have."

Instead of being annoyed, Emma decided to see it as cute that _he_ needed _her_ for once, and gave him a quick yet sweet kiss. "Is Henry awake?"

"Aye. We had a truly invigorating conversation about the atrocity of Mickey Mouse ears. Seriously, I can't believe I didn't mention those before. I mean, we should have gone to Legoland. Disneyworld? Really, Emma?

Emma smacked him on the shoulder. "It was my idea, and you completely supported it. This is the first I'm hearing about the "distastefulness" of the Mickey ears."

"Mom, they're so stupid!" Henry complained. Emma leaned forward to look past Hook at Henry.

"Just for that, I'm buying you some."

"Then I'll get Regina to zap them away." Henry smirked, before twisting in his seat to look at his other mother. "Mom, if Emma makes me wear Mickey Mouse ears, will you zap them off?" He begged, giving her his big, pleading eyes.

Regina glanced back and forth from Henry to Emma in confusion. "Uh... Maybe?" she shrugged at Emma, who laughed.

"Good enough for me." Henry and Emma decided at the same time.

"Here we are!" Neal announced, trotting off the bus. Henry came after, followed closely by Regina who had a disgusted look on her face.

"Did I just sit on that torture machine for half an hour watching Mickey and Minnie Mouse sing about how _wonderful_ magic is?" She growled, causing Henry to laugh.

"I think it was cute!" Snow defended the mice as she descended the steps.

"You're the only one." Killian argued, earning two slaps on the back of his head- one from Snow, and the other from her daughter.

"Don't knock the singing mice." Emma warned him playfully, nudging the one-handed man in the ribs.

"So, where are we going first?" Belle asked, fingering her ticket rather nervously.

Emma glanced at the map and grinned. "Neverland."

"What?!"

"45 minutes?" Hook exclaimed, looking at the Wait Time sign in horror. Emma patted his denim-clad shoulder- she wouldn't allow him to wear pirate attire to a kid's adventure park.

"Don't worry- It's usually longer than it says, according to the 'Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World'." Emma reassured him, earning a groan from everyone in their group.

"Do Belle and I really have to do this?" Rumple asked, glancing towards the nearest restaurant, obviously hungry.

Snow glared at Rumple for his lack of familial sacrifice. "Yes. 45 minutes of your precious time spent with us will not kill you- unless, of course, you seriously piss someone off." Regina chose that moment to wiggle her fingers at the Dark One menacingly.

Rumple scoffed. "I suppose I'll just keep my mouth shut then."

"Good idea, Dad."

"Oh, Bae, don't start now, or I'll tell stories of when you were a baby, and apparently those embarrass people these days." And with that, Rumple entertained them all for the next hour as they moved on in line with stories of Baby Bae that Emma had never heard before- which didn't surprise her- but were sweet, and almost made her feel bad for giving him up for Hook- until Killian's hand interlaced with hers, as if he could sense her discomfort, and all of the reasons she loved him flooded through her mind, causing her to look up at him and smile. She hadn't given up anyone- _she _was let go, and she found her way into Killian's life.

"I really do love you, you know." She informed him quietly, so the others couldn't hear.

His sea-blue eyes held a million different things he wanted to say, but he could only find four words that would suffice: "I love you, too." It seemed too simple, to clichéd, but it was the obvious and bare truth, not fancied up with adjectives and reasons, just naked emotion- but clothed bodies. Emma leaned up and kissed him, which triggered yet another gagging noise from Henry, which caused everyone to give the happy couple skeptical looks. Emma pretended to either not notice or not care, because she continued to press her lips against his, enjoying this tiny slice of perfect, surrounded by automatons, cash cows, real and fake fairy tale characters.

"Really? I mean, I was okay with the Neverland ride, Snow White ride, and the 'Space Mountain' death trap. But this is ridiculous." Charming said as Henry dragged them over to a fake Belle, who stood signing autographs and taking pictures with little children in her simple blue-and-white peasant dress.

"She looks nothing like Belle, that's for sure." Rumple commented, glancing from his Belle to fake Belle. The real Belle giggled and joined Henry in line.

"Come on, Rumple. It'll be fun."

Rumple couldn't refuse his True Love anything, as everyone knew well by then, and so he joined Belle and Henry.

And that is the story of how the picture of Henry, Rumple, Fake Belle, and Real Belle ended up on everyone's wall- along with photos of Fake Snow, Real Snow and Charming; Emma, Killian, and Fake Hook; and, of course, the whole gang crowded around the Evil Queen- and, in other photos, Mickey Mouse, with Henry wearing the mouse ears in each one.

* * *

**Aaand that's it!**

**Question: Gelato, Fro-yo, or ice cream? There's this AMAZING gelato place in my city, and it's got the most awesome gelato flavors ever, so I find myself leaning towards gelato- although Frozen Yogurt is always delicious.**

**BYENOW!**


	10. Emeralds

**A/N: Hey there! Technically, I'm still on midterms hiatus, but I had this little chapter rolling around in my head, so I typed it up just for you. And when I say little, I mean shorter than the other chapters, but it's definitely one of my fluffiest and cutest (in my opinion) yet. I understand that this may seem out of character for Hook/Killian, but I feel that by now, in this story, he's matured enough for this to be at least semi-belivable.  
I just wanna add- thank you to everyone who had favorited, followed either me or this story, or reviewed it! It seems fitting to put this at chapter 10, because it's kind of like a milestone for this story. So, thank you. I just want you to know that each and every favorite, follow, or review mean the word to me, and make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed, sing like a bird, and dizzy in my head- wait, that's a song. Whoops… It's pretty darn accurate. Basically, you guys make me smile :)**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

Killian paced up and down the sidewalk, his stomach churning at the simple _possibility_ of doing what he was thinking about doing. He couldn't._ He wanted to._ It would never work. _It had to work._

Finally he took a deep breath and entered Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop, hearing the bell jingle with annoying cheer as he walked in.

"Ah, Captain. What can I do for you today?" Rumplestilskin greeted his former enemy with such an easy tone, Killian had to do a double take to make sure it was still the same man. The older man standing behind the counter looked nothing like the crocodile he'd hunted for hundreds of years, but he knew looks could be deceiving. However, Killian knew that they'd buried their hatchet in a shallow grave, and neither of them were inclined to dig it up again.

"Hello, Rumple. I'm...ah... looking for a ring."

"Hey, Killian. Wow, someone looks like Sherlock." Snow commented, as she opened her door to see the pirate in a trench coat, scarf, and dark-colored button-up.

"Who?"

Snow laughed. "Never mind. How are you? What're you doing here? Wait- where are my manners? Come on in." she babbled as she invited Killian into her and David's little cottage, tucked away just outside of town.

"Thank you, m'lady."

David glanced up from the counter in the kitchen, where he was making two coffee's. "Hey, Hook!" He greeted his bro (They had official-ized their broship in recent months) amiably, and Killian nodded at him. "Want a coffee?" The King offered, holding up the coffee pot.

"'Ey, mate. And, no, I think I'll pass, thanks." Killian detested the bitter taste of the stuff, always had. His stomach stayed clenched as he sat down at the counter, next to Snow and across from David, realizing he hand't felt relaxed since before the stupid idea popped into his head. He could play the visit off as a pleasant drop-in, but that would be hard to believe, even for the happy-ever-after couple. He could easily be throttled or attacked when he asked The Question, but it was his only option, unless he wanted to cower in the corner like a terrified mouse. And he most certainly was not a little mouse.

"So, Killian, what _are_ you doing here? I'm not complaining, but you've never really been one to just drop in. " Snow glanced at him, voicing his thoughts, with a pleasant but confused look on her face.

Killian stared at both of them before beginning his carefully planned out speech. "I've been dating Emma for almost a year now- and I've known her for even longer." He paused to take a breath when Snow broke in.

"Oh my god, she's pregnant, isn't she?" She asked, eyes wide. Hook chuckled nervously, catching sight of David's mortified face.

"Ah, no. She's not. No worries." He appeased them both, and watched David's face go from emergency red to it's normal tan color. He tried to remember where he was in his planned speech, but Snow's comment and the shade of David's face had thrown him, so he settled on winging the rest of his speech. "I do love her, though. More deeply and truly than I thought I was even capable of. And... I have a question." He fished around in his coat pocket and continued. "I'd like your blessing to marry your daughter." At the last word, he pulled out the small red box, and flipped open the top to show the ring- a sparkling circular diamond, ringed by impossibly small emeralds. The band appeared to be made of a sting of diamond braided with a string of emeralds and a strip of gold. "I felt that the green matches her eyes," He explained softly. "And the diamonds were found in the mines of Storybrooke itself."

David gripped the counter hard, knuckles white, his face impassive. Snow had one hand pressed against her chest, and one over her mouth, eyes wide with shock.

Killian waited patiently for at least thirty seconds, but neither of the Charmings moved. He cleared his throat, causing both Snow and David to jump at the sudden noise. "Ehm... Opinions?" He asked, glancing back and forth between the couple.

David rubbed his forehead. "Oh god... I can't believe that this is happening... My little girl..." He sighed, sounding tired all of a sudden.

Snow poked her husband in the arm. "Well? Do you give him you're blessing or what?" She turned to Killian. "Because you completely have mine. If you are what makes Emma happy- and I can tell that you are- I would be cruel to deny either of you two any sort of chance at happiness. You're her True Love." She gushed.

Killian did his best not to cringe during Snow White's little soulful monologue- though he was grateful for her consent. It was David he was really worried about.

David was still rubbing his forehead, trying to process what was happening. Finally, he opened his eyes and put his hand back on the counter. "Okay, pirate." The words came out in a forced, strangled kind of way. "Okay. I'll do it. If Snow's right, and you make my daughter happy, I can't stand in the way." He took another pause, possibly for dramatic effect, before finishing with, "I give you my blessing to marry my daughter."

* * *

**Aww, Hook wants to marry Emma. Like, for realz.**

**Question: Have you ever made a mistake that seems like it's nothing to other people, but to you it's like the end of the world, and you can't be consoled by chocolate, and you wonder why you even bothered making such a mistake even though you didn't know it would be a problem until after it was done, hence it being called a mistake, but you feel absolutely horrible and you can't sleep because all you can think about is that one mistake and you just wanna go back to being five when the worst thing you could possibly do was draw on the walls? (Midterms are getting to my head)**

**OTHER, EASIER QUESTION: What did the cow jump over?**

**BYENOW!**


	11. Marry Me

**A/N: Apparently, my brain didn't get they whole "hiatus" thing. Whatever. I wrote this really late at night, and I'm too tired to embellish it with pretty words and imagery. You know what Storybrooke and it's characters look like, and so do I. Midterms have been my undoing, and I'm half crazy by now. I've only taken one out of my five midterms. Yikes. I should be studying, but look at me, writing FanFiction and listening to One Direction. Everything about this situation is wrong. Help me? Please?**

**Anyway, that's why this chapter seems awkward and choppy. But hey, at the end is what we all are wishing for, so I think you'll find it in yourselves to forgive me. Oh, and this isn't the last chapter. I've got at least four more chapters in mind for these two ;) I should mention that this chapter is ridiculously long. You might want to take breaks or something, idk. I'm gonna go study for my math and biology midterms now. Wish me (a hell of a lot) of luck!**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

Her mornings typically began by being kissed awake by Killian, or violently shaken awake by Henry, begging her to make him breakfast, because he was simply "far too tired" to do it on his own. Today, though, there was nothing. Which was why Emma's heart started pounding the moment she realized that she was completely alone. Killian's side of the bed was cold, and the covers were carelessly tossed aside. There was no note, meticulously folded into an origami swan on his side as there usually was when she woke up without him. Henry wasn't supposed to be at Regina's- she had put him to bed in the apartment the night before. So that begged the question: Where were they?

She threw on her thick, warm-from-resting-on-the-heater-all-night robe and hurried downstairs, expecting to see a note on the counter, or Henry and Killian watching tv in the living room- but there was no one. The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, at a complete loss as to where her guys- as she affectionately referred to them- might be.

She unplugged her phone from it's charger, ready to call up Killian and chew him out for leaving this morning without even a note. That was when she heard a knock on the door. She ran over and threw it open to find Henry standing there, grinning like he was Father Christmas.

"My God, Henry where were you?" Emma exclaimed, leaning over to hug him tightly- perhaps a bit too tightly as his words came out choked.

"Mom- I can't breathe..." He managed, gasping for air when Emma finally released her son from her vise-like grip.

"Where were you?" She demanded, remembering that she was mad at him.

Henry's knowing smile returned, and he clasped his hands behind his back. "I can't tell you- don't even try to get the truth out of me. Just get changed, and let's go." Emma opened and closed her mouth like a fish- Henry had never kept secrets from her- nor had he ever directed her in what to do.

"Why?" she finally asked, crossing her arms._ Yes, crossed arms and an angry face should do it_, the woman figured.

"Because you need to. Come on, it'll be fun!" He urged her. "Look, we have places to be." He waved a piece of parchment paper in her face. She snatched it from his hand and looked at it. "A map?"

"Yes, and it says we have to go to my castle. So get dressed and let's go!" He insisted, pushing his mother up the stairs.

She scoffed, but went up to her room anyway. "This better be good, kid."

"Oh, it will be!" He called up to her cheerily.

"Okay, kid, I'm all dressed at nine a.m. on a freaking Sunday. What are we doing at the playground?" Emma asked, looking at Henry, who was now sitting in the new "castle". He hadn't stopped beaming since he got there.

"Well, this is the place you and I first connected-" He began, but Emma cut in.

"Please don't tell me you woke me up at eight and sent me into a panic because you wanted to be sentimental. Henry, I love you, but-"

Henry rolled his eyes. "Come on, mom. You and I both hate waking up early. No, this is different. We needed to get this," he reached under the slide, and detached another piece of parchment paper that was stuck to the underside of the yellow slide.

"And what exactly is that?" she asked, not in the mood for games.

Henry handed it to her. "It's something. Now don't you dare lose it."

Emma examined the paper. Two of the four sides of this piece were jagged, as though they had been hastily ripped apart, similar to the first piece, Emma noted as Henry placed the two squares of paper side-by-side. "I don't get it. It says it starts at HOME," She pointed at the box where the dotted line started. "And moves to CASTLE, which is where we are... And then GRANNY'S? Kid, what the heck is going on?"

Henry took the paper back. "I can't tell you yet. Come on, we have more places to be." He grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the playground while she moaned and groaned about how she hated mornings and needed her coffee and a very good explanation as to what was going on.

Next, they stopped into Granny's diner. Henry led her quickly inside, not letting her stop and say hi to Ruby, who was simply sitting in a chair outside, head back and eyes closed, like she was enjoying the early morning summer sunlight for the first time ever. Probably waiting for another date of hers, Emma figured.

"Hi, Granny!" Henry greeted Granny. The older woman met his eyes, and they had what seemed like a telepathic conversation in under two seconds.

"Hello Henry, Emma." She nodded to the blonde woman before turning back to Henry. "I'll be right back." The old woman hurried to the kitchen, not sparing a backwards glance to the pair.

Emma looked suspiciously at her son. "What did you do?"

Henry turned to look at her, eyes wide with boyish innocence. "Why do you think I did something?"

"You're avoiding my question."

"You're asking a lot. Look, Granny's already back." He turned to Granny, who had come out of the kitchen, carrying two steaming Styrofoam cups towards the two, and handed one to Henry, and one to Emma. She looked into her drink and found it topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. _What is going on?_ She asked in her head, completely thrown.

"Thanks, Granny. Are they the right ones?" Henry asked conspiratorially, causing the elder woman to give him the _look_.

"'Are they the right ones?' He says." Granny scoffed, turning back to the register.

Henry rolled his eyes. "Sor-_ry_." He muttered, before turning back to Emma. "I'm waiting for you to ask me about why I asked if they were the right ones." He said. "I'll wait." He took a sip of his cocoa, pretending to be ready to wait, though he gave off an aura of impatience.

"Fine, I'll bite. Why did you ask if they were the right ones?" Emma sighed as she repeated his words dramatically.

"Because yours is special. Feel under your cup." Emma did as she was told and felt something smooth and papery. She frowned and detached it from the cup, and found it to be folded up into a flat origami furrowed her brow. "That's cute. It is from Killian, or-?"

"Unfold it!" Henry cut her off quickly, keeping his eyes down as he said it. Emma narrowed her eyes at her son and did so.

"You are soooo going to be grounded it you keep acting like this." She warned, unfolding it to find... another part to the map. And some more blocks with words printed on them in the same messy scrawl, the newest place being STREET, but she couldn't spend time looking at it, as Henry snatched the paper away. He put it in his pocket.

"I'm supposed to keep track of these, for a little while at least." Henry jumped up, taking his drink with him. "Let's go."

Emma paused, halfway up. "Wait, kid, I have to pay for the drinks I didn't order." She reached for the emergency ten dollars she always kept in her pocket, but Granny held up her hand before Emma could hand it to her.

"No need." And for the first time that morning, Granny smiled. "It's been taken care of."

Emma almost started doing the fish impression again, but luckily, Henry chose that moment to grab her arm. "Come oooon!" He bounced up and down excitedly, pulling on her arm. She grabbed her drink and allowed herself to bed led outside, send Granny a _please save me_ look before being sent out

"Stop right about... Here." Emma's son instructed, stopping her in the middle of the street, right outside of Granny's.

Emma turned to her son, reaching her limit. "Henry, I love you, but you really need to tell me whats going on, or I'm gonna have a mental breakdown." She pleaded, real pain in her voice. She hated surprises, and hated not know what was happening. That didn't help with the whole being-the-savior thing.

Henry paused, looking very guilty for a minute. "Sorry, mom, but I promise, I'll be done soon," He turned to Ruby, who was still relaxing in the warmth of the sunlight.

Wordlessly, she got up, and handed Henry his Once Upon a Time book. Emma simply shook her head, completely giving up on making sense of the things that were happening. "Hi Emma." She greeted her friend, and Emma raised her hand in a little half-wave.

Henry opened and closed the book a couple of times, and seemed to be satisfied about something, because then he handed the book to her. "Okay, now close your eyes, and open this book up to a page." He instructed.

"Is there a certain page you need me to find or something? It this like some savior thing that I need sentimentality and cocoa for?" She asked skeptically, but traded him her cocoa for the book anyway.

"Just trust me." He urged her, and Emma looked into his eyes, and saw the kid who was still the truest believer, and even though he was fourteen, she still saw, just for a second, the ten-year-old kid who had begged for her to do just that- to trust him- on the first week that he met her. And she was so glad that she eventually did.

"Okay, Henry. I trust you." She closed her eyes, and with her right hand, opened up his precious book to a random page. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yep!" Henry's voice even had a smile in it, so she opened her eyes and looked down at the page. It was an illustration that took up two pages. It was a forest, devoid of any people, but filled with snow-covered trees, and snow appeared to still be falling. There was a piece of parchment wedged in the valley between the two pages. Emma carefully removed the folded up piece of paper and unfolded it, about to rest it on top of the open pages- but she noticed, before she put it down, that there was a phrase written in bold calligraphy across the pages. **"As Long as the Lady Will Have Me." **

"Okay, Henry. Now will you tell me what's going on?" She asked, setting the parchment down on the open pages.

"Not really. But now you get to know what the parchment is for." He pulled the three other pieces of paper out, and set them up so they were all put together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle, and Emma saw how the squiggly lines all connected to each other, starting at HOME, moved on to CASTLE, then leading to GRANNY'S, and back out to the where they were standing, simply labeled STREET.

"So, we've been here, here, here, and now we're here." Henry pointed out the obvious, following the line with his fingers. "So our next stop is here." His finger stopped on the next block, where a big X resided on the box labeled DOCK.

"We're going to the docks? Really?" Emma raised her eyebrows at Henry, who was now bouncing on the balls of his feet happily.

"Uh huh. Now come on, X marks the spot!" He cheered, and turned and dashed off to the port, forcing Emma to follow the energetic bundle of excitement that was her son at a faster speed than she would have liked.

"Uh... Henry? Henry?" She was sure she had been right behind him, but now Emma looked around, and found no one. She rubbed her forehead, more confused than she had been when she first awoke. She wondered if that was how Aurora felt after waking up after her 28-year nap, or even her mom after her week-long sleep- disoriented, and then dragged along on a crazy adventure by their beloved, flapping along behind them in the wind. "Henry, you are _so_ grounded!" She called, hoping that would draw him out in the open, probably with that same impish grin he'd been wearing since he was ten.

"I hope I'm not grounded too." A familiar drawl said, and Emma whirled around to find her one-handed boyfriend leaning against the wall of the cannery, in his dark colored, short-sleeved button up and black jeans, as usual.

Emma fumbled for words and she made her way across the lot to him. "You most definitely are, mister. I didn't get a note or anything this morning. I was scared out of my mind until Henry showed up."

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Don't be such a worry wart." Killian murmured in her ear before pulling back, that familiar smug smile on his face, but there was something flickering in his eyes. Emma tried to read into it, but he blinked and the look was gone. "Besides, I left you a note. In fact, I left you four."

Emma wanted to mentally kick herself in that moment. _Of course_ he had been the one to make a map. He was a pirate, and a hopeless romantic, it wasn't beyond him to make her a silly little scavenger hunt. "So you paid for my and Henry's cocoa, then?"

He nodded, clearly pleased with himself. "Aye."

"And Henry let you use his book as a clue?"

"Aye."

"Well then," She stepped closer, tilting her chin up so their noses were almost touching. "You've got me here."

There was definitely a flicker in his eyes as he stepped to the side, putting a couple of feet between them. "Yes. Emma, I'm no good at this, though I feel no one is, except for maybe a poet, or an artist," His hand ran nervously over the empty hook-holder, and Emma realized he had taken away his most defining, nickname-inducing item for whatever this was. "I had written a speech, if that makes what I'm about to say- er, ask, I guess, any less awkward. I forget every single line I planned out except one. It's the most clichéd of all, though." He had started walking towards the middle of the lot, forcing Emma to follow him as she listened. "I've told you before, I've never felt like this in all of my life except once, and the feeling evaded me until I met you." He paused. "That's love, by the way, the feeling." Emma laughed at his obviousness, but she had been slightly worried that he had been planning to break up with her. Now, slightly more relaxed, the blonde woman crossed her arms and continued to listen to the captain's speech. "And I know how we both are virtually allergic to clichés, so I'll skip over the obvious, and the.. ah, _mushy_ parts, for both our sakes. I was just hoping- well, I mean, if you'll have me- I, ah..." He reached into his pocket and suddenly, she _knew_.

"What I'm trying to ask, is will you marry me, Emma Swan?" Killian chose to make a big show of dropping to one knee as he attempted to draw her attention from his struggle with opening the ring box with his one hand. Finally, he got it, and held out the most beautiful ring Emma had ever seen. In the morning sunlight, the gems glittered in such a way that she felt her eyes begin water, though she wasn't sure if it was from hte proposal, or the light burning her eyes. Either way, she smiled, and held out her left hand.

"What do you think?" She whispered. Killian jumped up and kissed her with all of his might, nearly knocking them both to the ground, before pulling back.

"Oh, right, the ring." They looked at it at the same time, and Emma took the box out of his hand, and held it out to Killian in her right one.

He laughed weakly, hating his absent left hand at the moment, but took the opportunity to take the ring and slide it on to Emma's left ring finger. The world seemed a little bit brighter then, or maybe the gems on the ring were simply burning his eyes as well.

Killian interlaced his fingers with Emma's, and together the walked back into town, as he explained the point of the scavenger hunt, and how he chose the places that he thought mattered to her. Her house, where so many memories had already been made, the castle, where she connected with her son. Granny's, where she had started to believe in Killian, and taught him about modern-day food, the street, where their first kiss was, and the docks, where he had finally started to believe in her, and believe in the good heroes.

"Weirdo." She teased, clutching his arm.

He looked at her, mock hurt on his face. "It was very well planned out, thank-you-very-much."

As they reached the town center, Henry bounced up to them, seemingly appearing out of no where. Emma made a mental note to check with Regina about keeping her potions better protected. "So? How'd it go?" He made a point of looking at his mother's left hand. "You said yes! I told you so!" Henry cheered, turning to Killian with a somewhat euphoric expression on his face.

Emma rolled her eyes and threw her free arm around Henry's shoulders. "I think you should still be grounded, kid."

Henry backed up, his eyes wide. "What?" He pointed at Killian as he began to head towards Regina's. "It was all him, I was just- you know, I'm gonna go see my other mom, ok bye!" He turned and darted off down the road. Emma and Killian kept walking toward their apartment.

"You're not really going to ground him, are you?"

Emma looked up at him, mischief in her eyes. "Nope. But now we have the apartment all to ourselves."

Killian got the message, and in two seconds had Emma in his arms bridal style and was running full speed into the building, Emma's giggles filling the silence of the otherwise empty street.

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**Aww, Henry ships Captain Swan :) Yay semi-cheesy engagement (am I capable of anything else? Answer: NOPE)**

**Question: Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram? (Tumblrrrrr all the way!)**

**Other question: Anyone else dying from midterms this week?**

**BYENOW!**


	12. Dance With Me Tonight

**A/N: I like this chapter. It's super-short, but really cute. I wrote it, and it still makes me feel like I need to curl up with a baby kitten because that's the only thing that can beat this fluffiness. And even then, it may be a competition. Y'know? Anyway, I hope you like it as much as I did. Thank you so much for all of the follows, favorites, reviews, and straight-up views this story had gotten- it seriously makes me smile every time I open up my inbox to an influx (is that the correct term) of FanFiction notices. And reviews make me a happy writer, and happy writers write good chapters ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

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"So, what's on our list for tonight?" Emma asked, plopping on the couch next to Killian, a bowl of freshly popped popcorn in her lap. Killian put his arm around her shoulders without even thinking about it, a move that had become simple and automatic as blinking- he didn't even notice he was doing it until he paused and really thought about it.

The pirate scanned the selection of DVD's in front of them. Emma had taken it upon herself to acquaint him with all of the Storybrooke-related Disney movies. They'd already seen Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, all of which had made Killian scoff and roll his eyes. "Do we have to?" He asked in a half whining, half pleading voice.

Emma sighed, getting the message. "I guess not. I just think all of the parallels and incorrect facts are really funny compared to what really happened. Don't you?"

"Yeah, but they're _kids movies_. Don't you have any movie with a single swear in it?"

Emma paused, thinking hard. "Um... No, I don't think so," She laughed at Killian's face of horror, jaw dropped to his chin. "Close your mouth, you'll catch flies. I just never had time to get my own movies, what with all of the curse-breaking and life-saving and savior-ifying going on. All of these movies Henry and I bought as a joke." She shrugged, resting her head on Killian's shoulder.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to entertain ourselves the old-fashioned way, Miss Swan." He said decidedly, standing up suddenly, causing an unsuspecting Emma to fall sideways on the couch.

Annoyed, she pushed herself back up, making sure none of the precious popcorn had spilled. "Look, as fun as _that_ is, I'm not really feeling it right now, and I have to be up early tomorrow, and-"

"Not _that_, you dirty-minded woman," Killian scoffed. As she had been speaking, he had crossed the room to the CD player, and was now looking through the stacks of CD's for a favorable tune. "I just think the princess should waltz with me at least once before our wedding."

He could feel his fiancé's skeptical gaze boring into his back as he found what looked like the right CD and placed it in the player, pressing PLAY before turning to Emma, holding his hand out to her. "Come on, love. I don't bite."

"Only in bed." She muttered, but pushed herself off the couch anyway, tossing her wavy, golden locks over her shoulder, and adjusted her green cable-knit sweater before joining Killian in the middle of the living room, where together they pushed away little pieces of furniture, stools, magazines, and various blankets that had been left in the middle of the floor, until they had cleared a large enough space for dancing.

"Do you know how to waltz, Swan?"

Without waiting for an answer, Killian stepped closer to her, placing the curved side of his hook gently on her waist, and had her set her left palm in his right one.

"This is actually backwards waltzing, as I'm supposed to be using my left hand. But I think we can make do." He explained as they began to move. Choppily at first, Emma stumbling and stepping on his feet multiple times, apologizing each time, the words overlapping.

"Sorry, I didn't- Oh, sorry again, I-"

"You can stop apologizing," Killian whispered into her hair, and with those four words, Emma gladly shut up. "Now, focus on the rhythm of the music," He instructed calmly, and Emma wondered if he had taught this to a class before. "And one, two, three, one, two, three..." And soon they were moving as one, as though they were two puzzle pieces that fitted together perfectly. Emma couldn't believe her feet weren't flying out from under her with every step she took, and every twirl she made. She spun and swirled and danced, laughing for no reason, and stared into Killian's eyes every time she was back in his arms. They began dancing to their own accord, as she twirled him, and they spun together, holding hands as they twisted around, and always ended up being pulled back together by one move or another.

She stepped out and twirled back into Killian's arms, expecting to be pulled back into the steps, when she felt the world turn upside down. She would have panicked at the sudden change, except Killian's lips landed on hers, and stayed there as he pulled her back up. Emma pulled away, opened her eyes, and the song ended.

"That, my fair lady, is how to dance."

Emma simply smiled. "I'm definitely taking you to a club one of these days."

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**Short and sweet, my friends. That's how to do it.**

**Question: Three more chapters till the end? Yes? No?**

**BYENOW!**


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